San Francisco Bay Area Chemistry Tutoring

My students and I sat down one day and discussed the question “what makes successful students successful?” Are good students born with natural ‘smarts’ that allow them to excel, or is it possible for anyone, and we mean anyone, to become a good student and a successful person? In this article, we argue the latter. We believe that good students are a result of consistent, mindful practice of good habits. In this manner, it is possible for any person to become a good student. After running several surveys and experiments with my classes, we found that the most important characteristic of good students is that they are fully engaged in the material. They cared about the material and not just their grade, they made the material interesting to themselves, and they also took consistent breaks in which they disengaged from thinking about the material altogether. Below, we outline 5 practices that will allow you to become fully engaged.

Don't fear failure. It is easy to not guess at a posed question for fear of being wrong, and this is a common theme across America, even in the business realm. In reality, failure is the first step in the right direction. Great people have realized this from Ralph Waldo Emerson - "Men succeed when they realize that their failures are the preparation for their victories." to Michael Jordan - "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

Be positiveThis seems dumb. Trust me, I know. But it is unbelievable how well it works. Being positive could be an entire course in itself, but for now start with just breathing deeply through the nose, which calms your nervous system and allows positive thoughts to flow without even thinking about it!

Learn how you learn If I had to draw the answers to every assignment in school, I would have failed every time. There are different types of thinkers and learners out there - visual, spatial, audio, kinetic, R-directed, and L-directed. Though our school system has a bias for students who can memorize and take tests well (and L-directed thinkers), you can do a lot by highlighting your strengths and not obsessing over your weaknesses.

Make things interesting and relevant to you. There is a whole bunch of stuff out there that you can't control - like the content that you have to learn. The best way to get by this inconvenient fact is to ACCEPT IT and make it fun. Perhaps you use your knowledge of physics and chemistry to develop a potato launcher and sell copies of it to your friends, or you use your knowledge of Language to start a successful Kickstarter Project that makes lots of money... who knows what will make it all interesting to you!

Find your tribeLegendary basketball coach John Wooden said “You show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” Successful students make sure to surround themselves with people who inspire them and allow them to thrive. If you have a friend that puts you down or makes you feel drained after interacting with them, it is time to fire that friend. Seriously. Positive energy begets more positive energy, and successful students know that the people they surround themselves with makes all the difference. Now, this doesn't mean in order to be a good student you must surround yourself with good students or boring people; in fact, good students know they must also have fun, so they can turn serious modes on and off well. Again, these topics could be discussed in much more depth, so look out for more posts discussing these and feel free to let me know what you think about the matter!

Let me introduce myself with a quick story... believe it or not, when I was in High School I considered Chemistry to be my worst subject. I couldn't stand going to class! Though I quite liked Biology and even won 'The Physics Student of the Year' award, chemical formulas and equations seemed like a foreign language to me (well, worse than a foreign language since I scored much higher in Spanish...).

What the heck happened!? Basically, as a lifelong outdoorsman I got really interested in Environmental Sciences. Through University courses like Environmental Geochemistry and Limnology, I began to realize that chemistry is actually used in the real world - imagine that! Anyway, the fact that chemistry actually mattered to stuff that I was interested in made all the difference in the world. As a result, I always strive to make lessons and concepts in chemistry applicable to real-world events and themes.

Furthermore, I understand that most students will go into a field that literally never requires a working knowledge of chemistry, so I empathize with you for learning it nonetheless. However, as with all subjects, the lessons and concepts from chemistry are meant to be applied to concepts other than the one in which they were taught. For that reason, I always challenge students to apply concepts beyond what they may need to know for a class. Yes, it may be a little bit more challenging in the moment, but the idea is that learning how to apply knowledge to different concepts is akin to teaching a man to fish as opposed to giving him a fish for one night. Ya' feel me?

So listen, I know there are a million tutor-finder sites out there that I could have used and that you can use, and I didn't go that route. There's reasons for it. First off, I want you as a potential tutee to know me. This is me and who I am - I am not a total chemistry nerd that is geeking out on chemistry 24/7. I am interested in a range of topics from writing to environmental science to human health and productivity. This also means that I can talk to you like a normal dude, and I can explain concepts in a relatable and understandable manner. Now you know exactly what you are getting from your tutor! Secondly, I want to use this blog to help all students out - not just students who want to tutor with me. I have a number of my former students in Flagstaff who I am still close with (shoutout to y'all), and I want all of you to be able to ask me questions that everyone in a class (or even across the country) might be struggling with at the same time. No, I won't be using it to answer specific homework questions, but I will instead be using blog posts to help to explain and break down broad concepts in a way that will allow you to answer any question that is thrown at you. So bring 'em on y'all.

I am looking forward to the school year and the chance to continue to teach!

Be well, have happy journeys, and keep being awesomemarshall moose moore

Author

I offer chemistry tutoring for individuals and small groups of committed students in the Bay Area - please contact me about it! I also try to post tips for understanding or solutions to challenging problems here, so contact me with your questions!